Pages

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Vietnamese authorities should void the conviction of blogger Ho Thi Bich Khuong, 44, and immediately free her. The People's Court of Nghe An is scheduled on May 30, 2012, to hear her appeal against her five-year sentence for violating article 88 of the penal code, which forbids conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

She was convicted on December 29, 2011, for giving interviews to the foreign media that authorities alleged were critical of the government, and for producing, storing, and distributing documents that were considered to oppose the state.

"For the third time in seven years, Ho Thi Bich Khuong is in prison for exercising the right to voice her views," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The systematic application of article 88 to arbitrarily punish bloggers and critics shows that Vietnam's disrespect for freedom of expression continues unabated."

In October of 2010, an unknown American, member of Crystal Clear Forum, an American Yahoo Group, used as pseudonym the name of Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, to post a single message about Turkey. The unknown American did not violate any law because, according to the Supreme Court of USA, anybody can use any pseudonym or pen name. For example, thousands of people use Obama's name as a pseudonym. It's considered an honor, not a forgery. http://venitism.blogspot.com

Some malevolent blogbusters misinformed Xenogiannakopoulou that the culprit was I, Basil Venitis, just because my name was mentioned in the post! As a result of this misinformation, on October 18, 2010, a gang of six brutal cybercops of the violent Greek Cyber Crime Unit (CCU) broke into my home in Athens and into my college office, and stole my computers, software, files, documents, and personal data.

The cybercops locked me in jail for a night, they humiliated me with handcuffs, fingerprints, mug shots, and lies, leaked false information to the media parrots, and the Greek government initiated sham court proceedings for a stack of charges, including forgery and treason! There was neither pillow nor toilet facility in my jail cell. I had to urinate in a bottle! I, a 65 year old with heart problems, was not allowed to keep my hypertension pills with me. There was neither toilet paper nor soap in the whole CCU jail facility.

But that's not the end of the story. My nerves are broken by no accuser showing up during my court trial! The judge always has to postpone the trial for another day and so it goes ad infinitum. Meanwhile, I always have to show up and waste the whole day waiting as there is no definite timing for the hearing, but only a day. I and my lawyer have to be in the courtroom the whole day until the judge calls my name. Then the judge calls the name of the accuser, nobody replies, and the judge postpones the trial for another day. This has happened five times so far! This is a real Greek tragedy! Justice delayed is no justice, justice perpetuated is hell.

Hail! A sensitive issue cannot be fully explained in a post, but only in a speech, in that magic eyeball to eyeball contact, baring my soul, and declaring truths that cause shock and awe. That's why I look forward to the invitation of your organization to speak at your conference. Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com